With the appointment, Dr. Siu will help advance the Task Force’s work in preventive care.

New York, NY

– March 21, 2011 /Press Release/ ––

Albert L. Siu, MD, MSPH, the Ellen and Howard C. Katz Chairman's Chair and Professor of the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, has been appointed Co-Vice Chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). His appointment became effective March 10.

The Task Force is comprised of 16 experts from health-related specialties, including internal and family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, and nursing. Its recommendations about preventive care, such as medications, screenings and counseling, have informed clinical standards for many professional societies, health organizations, and medical quality review groups in the United States.

"The Task Force has been the lead organization in helping clinicians and patients in decisions about preventive care in this country and I look forward to helping advance this important work," said Dr. Siu.

The USPSTF is an independent, volunteer panel of 16 private-sector experts in prevention and primary care that makes recommendations to primary care clinicians about preventive services such as screenings, counseling, or preventive medications that may benefit patients before they experience signs or symptoms of a condition. Members come from many health-related fields including internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, behavioral health, obstetrics/gynecology, and nursing. USPSTF recommendations have informed clinical standards for many professional societies, health organizations, and medical quality review groups.

Dr. Siu is an internist and geriatrician, and health services and policy researcher at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He is Director of the Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center, in Bronx, NY, and has served as Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Department of Health. Dr. Siu also serves as a Senior Associate Editor of Health Services Research.

About The Mount Sinai Medical Center

The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Established in 1968, Mount Sinai School of Medicine is one of few medical schools embedded in a hospital in the United States. It has more than 3,400 faculty in 32 departments and 15 institutes, and ranks among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institute of Health funding and by U.S. News & World Report. The school received the 2009 Spencer Foreman Award for Outstanding Community Service from the Association of American Medical Colleges.

The Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is a 1,171-bed tertiary- and quaternary-care teaching facility and one of the nation's oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks The Mount Sinai Hospital among the nation's best hospitals based on reputation, patient safety, and other patient-care factors. Nearly 60,000 people were treated at Mount Sinai as inpatients last year, and approximately 530,000 outpatient visits took place.

The USPSTF is an independent, volunteer panel of non-Federal experts in prevention and primary care that makes recommendations about preventive services such as screenings, counseling, or preventive medications that may benefit patients before they experience signs or symptoms of a condition. The Task Force reviews published evidence and evaluates the benefits and harms of individual services for specific groups of people based on age, gender, and risk factors for disease. The USPSTF provides this service to help primary care clinicians and patients decide together whether a preventive service is right for a patient’s needs. More information is available at www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org.